Name withheld, Wisconsin Q No. Most companies don't promote greenhorns just to save a few thousand bucks here and there. They promote people who exude the kind of positive energy, ambition and intelligence that can propel an organisation forward.

The upward MBA escalator in your company is probably not about corporate economics. It's most likely about a downward trend in your career. Without doubt, you've hit some kind of wall.

If you don't find out why soon and repair the damage, it won't be long before you're passing those "bargain-basement" MBAs on your way out the door.

Unfortunately, it could be difficult to get the answers you need. Clearly, your managers haven't been candid with you about your performance to this point.

Perhaps they expected you to read the writing on the wall and draw your own dire conclusions. Appraisal avoidance shouldn't happen, but it often does when the news is going to be bad.

Your job, then, is to gently initiate some kind of conversation with the boss you're closest to, even if it is just to obtain a vague sense of what's going on. But just as important, you need to start pouring energy into getting back on the radar.

The most effective way to do that, not surprisingly, is to over-deliver. Whatever you're doing, do it better and faster. Expand your job's horizons to include bold new activities. Come up with a new concept or process that doesn't just improve your results, but your unit's results and the company's overall performance. Surprise everyone.

Here's a second powerful comeback technique: Raise your hand when the call goes out for people to sign up for major projects and initiatives, especially ones that don't have a whole lot of popularity at the outset.

Volunteer to work in a branch office in a tough competitive market or jump at the opportunity to be part of a big new quality drive. A global assignment right now may take you too much out of the picture for your immediate purposes, but it is directionally correct. You need to prove you're willing and able go the extra mile.

Finally, if you are draining away your political capital within the organisation in any form, stem the flow immediately.

That means you may need to stop disparaging fellow employees, even if you're just doing it in jest, or acting in any form like a wet blanket. Right now, your attitude needs to shout one word: Yes.

Can we guarantee that A these three 'fixes' will revive your career? Of course not. Sometimes a person has been underperforming for so long they get an embedded reputation. In that case, no matter how hard you try, you will always be seen as the same old you.

If, after a period of trying, you get the feeling that's your situation, we suggest you jump before you're pushed. Find a company with a better fit, doing work you like. Then don't wait for the silent treatment to alert you. From day one, start building the results and reputation that will make you the new kid rising through the ranks.

Loyalty is no magic bullet. In today's globally competitive world, you can't survive . . . let alone thrive . . . without satisfied customers. Do loyal employees make that happen? Sure. . . sometimes.

But for satisfied customers all the time, you need employees loaded with talent, energy and passion.

You need people who stay with your company not because the benefits are good, but because your mission turns them on, the work is fun and meaningful and the opportunities for growth are thrilling. You need people who are happy to stay, but are ready to leave if the environment isn't buzzing. Those are your winners.

We're not against employee loyalty, of course.

It's sure better than hostility or apathy. But the concept of employee loyalty as a corporate and societal virtue went out the door with lifetime employment, which had to go when foreign competition arrived.

Differentiation was the antidote. Differentiation has its flaws, but it works better than any other system we know. And one reason is that it makes it clear that employees can only stay as long as they are performing.

If that makes some people disloyal, let them go.

You need employees sticking around for more than security . . . namely, opportunity and growth.

Jack and Suzy Welch are the authors of the international best-seller Winning. You can email them at Winning@nytimes. com.

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